In September of 1969, I found myself to be pregnant with my boyfriend’s child. I had had a relationship with this man in high school and it continued for almost 7 years. Needless to say, I was very much in love with him but when he found out I was pregnant he gave me an ultimatum- either I have an abortion or he would leave me. I told my boyfriend that I thought abortion was murder and that I couldn’t possibly abort the child of the man I loved so very much. He sneered and mocked what I had said as if babies in the womb were nothing of any consequence and pressured me even more to get an abortion before anyone found out about it. Well, I refused and he left. I was utterly heartbroken. My father had died the month before and my mother was still grieving his death. My sister had just divorced and was left with two small children. My whole life seemed to come to an end. My one thought was how to keep this child. My mother found a place for me to stay in a home for unwed mothers. I remember crying every day. My mind was in constant turmoil. I kept wavering back and forth with the question “shall I keep the baby, or shall I give the baby up for adoption, shall I keep it or give it up?” Back and forth, back and forth, day after day, day after day until I was a mental wreck. The staff at this home were very concerned for my mental health as I was constantly crying. One night as I sat in the nurse’s station crying and talking to the night nurse she said “Look at it this way” and she took my hand in the palm of hers. “If you try to hold onto something tightly” she formed my hand into a tight ball, “it comes out of the cracks of your fingers, but if you hold onto it loosely” she spread out the palm of my hand, “you always have it.” “It’s like giving away a great work of art to a museum,” she continued, “you created it, but everyone can enjoy it”. I thought about what she said and two days later when I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl I named her Mona Lisa Christine. They allowed me to hold her only twice before I signed the adoption papers. After signing my baby away, I walked out of the office brokenhearted and crying, knowing that I would never see the baby I loved so very dearly again!
Two years later I was completely and totally broken and saw no purpose or reason to live. It was only by the grace of God that I became a believer in 1972. Through a series of events, I felt led to live in Israel. I first came to Israel in 1980, I met my future husband in 1981. Before I got married to David I had to put my future marriage on the altar by sharing this story with David. I shared it with him and he graciously accepted me. Well, this is not the end of the story. In January of this year, I got a telephone call from a social worker in Atlanta, Georgia. She told me that my daughter was trying to make contact with me and asked if I would be interested in meeting her. Of course, I said yes!!!
To make a long story short, Mona Lisa Christina came to visit us for two weeks in April/May. She is a believer in the Messiah Yeshua. She has performed in the former Soviet Union with her high school wind ensemble as part of President Reagan’s Cultural Exchange Program. Mona Lisa Christina is a pianist and was chosen to participate in the Governor’s Honors Program in Georgia (as one of ten piano students in all of Georgia), where she studied piano, conducting, and Japanese. She studied in Japan and it was while there that she met her future husband who is a Doctor of Microbiology and does research funded by NASA. Christina is currently the mother of five sons and homeschools her children. If I had aborted this work of art the world would have been deprived of a beautiful person. We have a wonderful relationship. We call each other and pray together once a week and I either go to visit her or she comes to Israel to stay with us.
Isn’t God good? I just praise Him for what He’s done in my life.
